Kebara Cave, a Middle Paleolithic Aurignacian and Mousterian site

Located on the western escarpment of Mount Carmel, Kebara Cave has two important components, Middle Paleolithic Aurignacian and Mousterian, and Epi-Paleolithic Natufian. First occupied about 60 000 years ago, the 4 metre thick cave deposit has Levallois stone artifacts, many many hearths, and midden deposits.

The oldest occupations at Kebara Cave are thought to be associated with the Middle Paleolithic Aurignacian and Mousterian traditions, and range between 60 000 and 48 000 years ago. These oldest levels yielded thousands of animal bones - primarily mountain gazelle and Persian fallow deer - many of the bones with cutmarks, as well as burned bones, hearths, ash lenses and lithic artefacts leading researchers to believe Kebara Cave was a long-term occupied base camp for its Neanderthal residents. Also identified in the MP layers of Kebara cave was a nearly complete skeleton of a Neanderthal, known as KMH 2 or Kebara

The Kebara II burial in the Kebara Cave, Israel, is a unique example of complex burial practices 60 000 years ago.

The body rested on its back, probably in a grave dug for its interment. After the disappearance of flesh and tendons - without any trace of physical removal of flesh - it appears that although the jaw remains, the skull, not found during the excavation, was probably removed by the Mousterians themselves.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008

Text: Adapted and translated from the display at Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies

Mugharet el-Kebara (Me'arat Kabara) is located on the
western escarpment of Mt. Carmel, about 13 km
south of Wadi el-Mughara (Nahal Ha-Me'arot) at about
60-65 m above sea level. Its arched entrance, which was essentially the
same during Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic
times, faces north-northwest. The small terrace in
front of the cave is formed by a huge rock collapse at
least part of which occurred during the Upper Paleohthic.
The escarpment at Kebara is made of limestone of
Cenomanian and Turonian age. The cave itself is formed
within dolomite. (Bar-Yosef et al, 1992)

Ofer Bar-Yosef, born 1937, is a highly experienced and respected Israeli archaeologist, who specialises in the Paleolithic period. He is most closely associated with excavations at prehistoric Levantine sites including Kebara Cave in Israel, the early Neolithic village of Netiv HaGdud in the West Bank and other Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites in China and the Republic of Georgia.

He studied as an undergraduate and postgraduate at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in the 1960s, and later became a Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the same institution. He moved to America in 1988, and was appointed a Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at Harvard University, and Curator of Palaeolithic Archaeology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

Among his most recent discoveries were microscopic flax fibres, found while examining clay samples from a cave in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia (which he has visited every year since 1996). At 34 000 years old they are the earliest artefacts of their kind ever discovered.

Text: http://heritage-key.com/ofer-bar-yosef

Photo: Wikipedia, Z. Matskevich - I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.

The original Kebara skeleton photographed after removal to the laboratory.

Photo: Bar-Yosef et al (1992)

The text below has been adapted from the seminal paper by Bar-Yosef et al (1992)

The Kebara 2 skeleton was uncovered in 1983. It has been dated by thermoluminescence to 61 000 - 59 000 BP, and by electron spin resonance to 64 000 - 60 000 BP.

The sediments inside the pit were yellow-brown
while those outside were blackish.

The skeleton was lying on its back in a general east-west
orientation. The right hand lay on the thoracic cavity
at the level of the left scapula.

The left hand lay a
little lower at the level of the lumbar vertebrae. The
cranium was missing. The cervical vertebrae were in
anatomical sequence, with the atlas positioned between
the branches of the mandible. The latter was tilted toward
the vertebral column, indicating that the head of
the skeleton originally leaned forward. The head lay at
a slightly higher level than the rest of the body against
the steep northeastern side of the burial pit. In its primary
position the head was probably facing westward.

The right humerus was turned inward with its lateral
side facing up. The right innominate (hip bone) was in place, and
the typical sideward collapse after the decay of the flesh
had not occurred. These observations mean that the
right side of the body was leaning against the northern
wall of the burial pit, limiting the amount of bone movement.
which normally occurs with the decomposition of
the soft tissue.

Most of the anatomical
connections were still intact; for example, the
extremely mobile hyoid bone remained in place between
the branches of the mandible. There was no evidence for
the collapse of the thoracic cavity after decomposition
of the soft tissue. The position of the components of
the scapular girdle and the obliquity of the left clavicle
indicate that the shoulders were contracted slightly upwards.
These observations suggest that the body decomposed
in a filled grave and that the burial pit was somewhat
deeper at the level of the thorax.

Despite the
abundance of evidence for hyena-gnawed bones in the
cave, no carnivore marks were noticed on these bones.

The position of the upper limbs, especially the right
hand reaching the left shoulder, supports the hypothesis
of immediate inhumation, perhaps preceding rigor mortis.

The positions of the mandible, the hyoid bone, and
the right upper third molar, which fell from its socket
next to the right lower third molar, exclude the hypothesis
that the skull was removed by an animal. Furthermore,
no cranial fragments were found. These observations
suggest that the skull was removed by humans
following the complete decay of the atlanto-occipital ligaments.

This is, in our view, the first clear-cut case recorded
in a Mousterian context for later human intervention
in a primary burial. The absence of the skull
precludes any further interpretations in terms of mortuary
practices.

Numerous lithics and a few bones were
discovered within the burial pit. Their distribution,
however, would not indicate any explanation other than
that they were a part of the refill of the pit, which was
dug into layers rich in artefacts and bones. The use of
the same sediment would also mean that no major colour
changes resulted from the refilling of the burial pit.

Judging by the degree of ossification, the morphological
changes at the costo-endochondral joint, dental attrition,
and pelvic morphology, KMH 2 was an adult
male 25-35 years old.

Its excellent state of preservation
provides accurate information on postcranial elements
such as the vertebral column, thorax, upper limb bones,
and pelvis. The study of these bones has direct implications
for the interpretation of the morphology of Levantine
Middle Paleolithic humans. Comparisons with
the Neanderthals from Tabun, Shanidar, and Amud or
with the early modern humans from Skhul and Qafzeh
are most informative.

The estimation of the stature of KMH 2 at ±1.74 m,
for example, is consistent with observations previously
made on Near Eastern Middle Palaeolithic hominids suggesting
a mean stature greater than that of European
Neanderthals.

The KMH 2 mandible displays a combination of gracile
and robust features. Several measurements exceed those
in modern humans as well as those in other Middle Palaeolithic
hominids. The corpus is extremely robust and
tall, especially in the symphyseal region, which lacks a chin.

Kebara 2 skeleton.

Note that the one femur found has been placed at an angle to fit into the display case.

More photographs of sites and venuses are always welcome!
If you would like a particular archaeological site to be covered here, if you have questions or comments, or if you have any photographs or information which would be useful for Don's Maps please contact Don Hitchcock at don@donsmaps.com

Important Information
I do not keep back any higher resolution photos from my website. To obtain the highest resolution I have, you need to click the small image (thumbnail) on the web page, when the full, higher resolution image will appear on your screen, from which you can copy or download it. Thus, each small image is a link to the highest resolution of that image that I have available, and anyone can access it just by clicking on the thumbnail.

Use of images Anyone (students, teachers, lecturers, writers of books, film/video makers, the general public) may use and reproduce, crop and alter the photographs which I have made of objects and scenes at no charge, and without asking permission. If you decide to use one or more of my images, I would be grateful if you would include a credit such as 'Photo: Don Hitchcock, donsmaps.com' or similar, at the place you normally put your credits. Obviously this does not apply for any rephotography I have made of existing photographs and diagrams from other people, in which case copyright remains with the original photographer or artist. Nor does it apply where there is some other weird copyright law which overrides my permission.